Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Reflections on a gig

There were some good and not so good things about playing with an orchestra at the Kennedy Center.

The best part was playing on a beautiful real stage, with plenty of room; good chairs, lighting, and sight lines (yes! I could see the conductor!); and no religious emblems on display (sorry if that offends anyone, but that stuff always makes me uncomfortable).

The level of playing was really good; it made me play better.

I liked the piece quite a bit -- though fairly simple, it is cleverly composed.

The not so good:

Despite my telling myself it did not matter in the least, I felt left out because I wasn't in a starring role. The level of playing here made me realize what I've gotten used to in my usual orchestra gig. So I've felt a bit down about it.

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Well-Tempered Clavier Project

I am on a quest to learn all 48 sets of preludes and fugues in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, "learning" including memorizing. I thought it might be interesting to collect all of my Bach efforts in one place; see the list below. Clicking on the link will open the recording so you can listen to it.

The recordings are in reverse chronological order (oldest last). The earliest was recorded in 2006.

I am NOT implying that these are definitive interpretations! Rather, this is meant to document my development as an amateur pianist.

I have actually learned these others as well but never tried recording them; maybe someday I will go back and resurrect them:

WTC II/20 in A minor
WTC I/21 in B flat major
WTC I/1 in C major
WTC I/2 in C minor